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tv   The Ingraham Angle  FOX News  November 30, 2018 11:00pm-12:00am PST

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loyal husband, gampy, great grandfather, father, and i think you will be remembered while ine history of this country. >> shannon: i think you are right. we leave with a beautiful cartoon tonight, and fox news >> if you're joining us, breaking news coverage in the death of president george h w bush. we are at foxnews headquarters in new york. president bush 41 he was the oldest president u.s. history. 41 at the home and his condolences and fond memories are ripouring in for former advisers and well-wishers from around the world. he's been remembered as a statesman and icon of the greatest generation and one-of-a-kind. we look back at the life of thi american hero. >> and new breeze is blowing. in a world refreshed by freedom seems reborn.
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for in man's heart, it's not in fact the day of the dictator is over. >> george bush hardest task as president was giving a green light for operation desert storm . but he is credited with rescuin the new oral rich nations. before george herbert walker bush took his first up into the white house seem learned to wal in maine. born june 12, 1924, in the town of milton, massachusetts to a family in public service. he is the second of five children to dorothy and senator with high school behind him he was accepted at yale university but put his education on hold.r in 1942, george bush celebrated his 18th birthday by enlisting in the u.s. naval reserve. within a year, he was ensign
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bush, the youngest fighter pilo and that may be very taken part in 58 combat missions. bush was flying his plane on th special bombing mission over china when he was shot down by the japanese and was forced to bail out at sea. he survived, though his crew di not. >> i'm floating around in this raft, paddling, and then all of a sudden i saw this tower come up and saw the supporting surface.. >> with you in the war insights bush said his sights on barbara pierce, the two went in 1945, while bush was still on the navy . they would have six children including our 43rd president george w. bush. in popular florida governor jeb. he left the navy and graduated from your mac before he and barbara moved to texas to find his dreams on an oil field. by the age of 30 he was cofounder and president of support offshore which pioneere
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experimental drilling equipment. just like his fatherququ, bush ejected the public service and politics.te alter losing his first politica race for a senate seat in 1964, he was elected to the house of representatives two years later serving two terms. encouraged by richard nixon to run again for the senate in 1970 , he was defeated a second time. he moved onto high government positions in 1971 richard nixon appointed him ambassador to the united nations. in 1973, he became chairman of the republicantt national commitment at the height of the watergate scandal. in that role he urged nixon to
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resign for the good >> he was sent to china as chie of the u.s. liaison office shor time later ford called him home to be director of the cia. bush was credited with bringing morale back to the agency. he left in 1977 when president carter entered the white house. by 1979 he was ready to get bac into the political ring. et i am a and gentlemen, candidate for president of the united states. >> bush was seen as a moderate alternative to ronald reagan, but dropped out from the presidential campaign after fou primary performances. a short time later he accepted reagan's offered to be his running mate. reagan won in a landslide per during his eight years as vice president, bush was credited with softening reagan's view of the soviet ununion and pressed hard on issues like deregulatio and the war on drugs. in the natural progression, bus became the republican parties nominee and 1988 when senator dan lequayle from indiana as hi running mate. the republican team defeated massachusetts governor michael dukakis in texas senator lloyd bentsen. >> i george herbert walker bush do solemnly swear. >> during his presidency the
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soviet unionre dissolved the berlin wall fell, and manweller noriega was arrested, securing the panama canal. when everything came to a head when iraq and saddam hussein invaded neighboring kuwait.or >> were not walking away and so our mission is done, in till th invader is out of kuwait. >> president bush reacted quickly over 400,000 u.s. troop in building a strong coalition of allies.er operation desert storm had begun . the majority ajof america supported the presidents decision to throw saddam hussei back into iraq and bush is popularity rating r was at an all-time high.be most thought he was unbeatable for a second term. a broken campaign promise. >> read my lips. >> would come back to haunt of the 41st president and in the fall of 1992 with the war a distant memory, george bush los
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reelection to former arkansas governor bill clinton. bush traveledsh to kuwait to commemorate the gulf war inat 1 and assassination plot on his life was uncovered, but bush wa unharmed. it was later discovered the poorly orchestrated plan was th work of the iraqi intelligence service. the kuwaiti court would convict all but one of the defendants. bush retired to texas with barbara getting in a few round of horseshoes and celebrating countless birthdays parachuting out of planes, spending time with the w family in maine, and reliving memories of when he wa a boy. >> i can honestly say that the three most rewarding titles bestowed upon me are the three that i've got left. the husband, a father, and a granddad. while retired his wife was active u until the end joining forces with former political fo bill clinton to raise money for the victims of the 2004 indian
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ocean tsunami and hurricane katrina in 2005. the former presidents formed a close friendship continuing their charity work and enjoying annual luncheons at pushes home and using his experience insights to serve as a quiet advisor to his oldest son the 43 rd president. here are attending george w. bush is presidential library dedication in 2013, and sharing a few words. >> glad to be here. god bless america, thank you very much. bush even kept up with public by joining twitter where he often shared photos of his colorful socks that became part of his signature look. each brought health challenges of course, parkinson's disease left them in a wheelchair and brief hospital stays in his 90s for pneumonia, bronchitis and a fall and his home.
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but not enough to keep him out of the limelight throwing out the first pitch before 2016 baseball game and pregame ceremonies month later at the super bowl in his houston hometown. reuniting with his former running mate and vice president dan quayle in july, and then catching a glimpse of the rare eclipse tcthat cross the countr alongside his family in maine i august. one of his last public appearances was at his beloved wife barbara's funeral where he met with former presidents, first ladies, and the current first lady melania trump. bush arrecently returned to his vacation home town of kennebunkport, maine,. following veterans for a pancak breakfast before he was hospitalized for a low-pressure blood pressure and fatigue. this is the first time in decades that neither he nor his wife attended the annual memorial day parade. he said he's forever grateful t
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those patriots who made the ultimate sacrifice to our nation , but also the gold star families whose heritage is imbued with their honor and heroism. known for his maturity and straightforward approach, georg h of you bush called country to be better in hopes of inspiring that people to be great. >> i think historians are going to say we did pretty well. that's all right for me. when not in any rush to let the make that determination. >> tonight,in senior special report at our cheap political anger and commit you think abou that he talks about being in heaven and folks looking down and tonight were all thinking about him and his reunion, but he said with his wife and their young daughter that they lost many decades ago. >> tonight i'm at the reagan presidential library behind me,
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air force one where president reagan took it around the world and his vice president george h w bush you know, i think the world will probably as the president said smiled down, history will tell how the world remembers the term of president george h w bush, but what i'm struck by is the family relationship. think about this. 17 grandchildren eight great-grandchildren. his oldest daughter robin died when she was four years old in 1953. when barbara bush died, his wife there was that moment where at the funeral, president bush was sitting in his wheelchair, his daughter behind him, and he is looking at the casket and it was a moment that really i think captured i the
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feeling of this family, as he was saying goodbye to his wife y of so many years. the other thing that captured the imagination i think of the american people was the cartoon actually that's the barbara bus seen going to heaven and reuniting with her daughter fou -year-old daughter who died, robin. now, as youk look at these pictures, you think about that reunification and you think about the love of his life he i now with him and obviously with robin as well. i think history will look back to president george h w bush is an honorable man and is a good president. to change the trajectory of the united states. >> thank you. certainly on the world stage. with the cold war and has world compliments as well. were going to bring in fox news and a host chris wallace as well
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. i want to read one of the tweet that's gone out from one of his grandchildren say nothing gave my gampy more than service to others. his leadership taught us to be kinder and jim martell, to love each other. we will love him dearly. chris, that's going to be an interesting conversation for this country to have. it will likely be very bipartisan over the next few days as we remembery the life o this very special man and forme president. >> absolutely.si there is a sense in the country now that it's a zero-sum game that one side wins the other side loses. that wasn't the way that george h w bush viewed life and ertainly not the way he viewed politics he was very competitive , very toughe fought hard for a variety of positions fought hard to become president and was certainly at least for
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short time when he lost in 1992 to bill clinton, but he had a sense of the community that thi country isth and what unites us opposed to divides us. if we could have more that conversation of the next few days as we celebrate his life and observe his death, that wil be his last contribution to thi country. i wanted to mention there was a lot of talk today amongst peopl that president bush might be in trouble. that he might be near death he was a tough bird and a number o times he was hospitalized and things seemed quite serious so wrote to a couple of his top staff people. one of them is his press spokesman and you hate to even ask this question, but just, is
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he in trouble. he wrote a note back and said basically yes, he's having a tough week, but he's had a lot of tough weeks and he bounces back and he then said this morning, less than 24 hours ago he had three eggs for breakfast and is at home resting comfortably. so the people closest to him were not at all convinced that this was going to be the end fo george h w bush. i also read a note to a wonderful woman, who has been s close to him, his chief of staf in the presidential office in houston. one of the things i got a kick of we arranged a variety of interviews, the president and all his staff e-mail address wa sl fw.com and i always used to when i first thought i said wha
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does thatt mean and i finally figured out former leader of th free world.com and that was kin of the lights, obviously he too the presidency seriously, but he didn't take himself seriously . sl fw.com was his e-mail address . >> very lighthearted and we thinkht about and we've talked about how much he loved a good joke a good punch line even if it was at his own expense, he was somebody who accomplish so much on the world stage that it's impossible to go through his entire resume and remind people of all the things he did internationally and domestically . what a brave navy aviator he was , going straight into the war , getting up on his getting through yield in two and a half years which is an accomplishmen for anyone, but he just kept
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charging and chris, we talk tonight about how he was a risk taker and people remember him a somebody as were showing him skydiving which you love to do too, that he was somebody who wasn't afraid to strike, and fa government. he was all rising to a new challenge. >> i asked him about as skydiving and his decision to do that. even that he put not just as a lark or a personal adventure to him, but as to a public service. he said i'm trying to send a message to old folks like him a that point, heoi was in his 80s he said you don't have to sit-i remember him putting at this weight you don't have to drool in the corner. you can do something. maybe it isn't skydiving with the golden knights, but you can do something. don't put yourself in the grave before you're really there. you talk about his sense of humor. i had the great opportunity one
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time after i had interviewed hi in houston that he invited me take to go off and have lunch with him. we were talking in 2005 after the terrible tsunami in asia he and his son bush 43 assigned hi and bill clinton to go toward the area part of it was to rais money by publicizing the terrible situation there. george h w bush and bill clinto did not seem like a natural fit george clinton had beaten bush in the 92 election in addition to which their personalities could not have been more different. president bush, 41 regaled us a lunch about their trip together through southeast asia and one of the things he said was we ar so different, he loves to talk, and i may be more measured, but a lot of what he said was very
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interesting and among the things , if i was having trouble talking about something i knew that bill would extract another thing that frankly drove him crazy aboutm bill clinton was t fact that bill clinton and anybody that's ever covered him he would get involved in a conversation and he would just always talked about operating o clinton time. so they agreed they were going to get up and go around with a 9:00 a.m. their trips to southeast asia and bush would be in the car at 9:00 a.m. maybe even at 8:57 e.m., and clinton would show up when he did. he said it clearly bothered clinton that he was always keeping bush waiting so one day at about 8:55 a.m., he came downstairs excitedly like he wa going to beat bush into the car into the limousine taking them around the bush, not knowing this, not doing this on purpose had gotten to the car at 8:50 a.m. he said the look of disappointment on his face when he looked in the car and though he beat me again.
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one thing that bush very much respected because they were traveling around in a presidentialid jet was the deference that bill clinton showed him and that clinton, bush was considerably older, always insisted that george h w bush have the presidential cabi and sleep in the presidential bed and clinton would find the couch on air force one or sleep on the floor. he always paid respect and you know, went to great pains to make sure that bush 41 was comfortable. >> as we watch this treasure trove of memories we have. all these pictures. you see there the banner from the kuwaiti people and that of course was a big moment in his t presidency the coalition that
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the u.s. was involved with goin into defeat the iraqis and a flashpoint in that region. there was so much that he accomplished on the international stage. we see him there with the troop having served himself he had a great fondness for our men and women in service. he continued throughout his lif to do things with the wounded warriors well into his retirement in ways that would inspire other people. that's what it was about inspiring all of us to give more , serve more, and be better. >> shannon, you look back at hi life and legacy and you see these pictures of him shaking hands with troops there. think about that moment. remember that it was at that point, defense secretary cheney it was brent scowcroft. it was luminaries in his white house, george h w bush rallying
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around him forming a coalition that really hadn't been formed before on the international stage when it came to and he wa the template by which other presidents looked at and said i i can get the world to rally around meou like george h w bus did with golf for one, this wil be a success. if chris ishe still on the phon i would love to ask him about the transition from president reagan as were standing here at the reagan library with air force one were reagan traveled the world to all kinds of places . the transition from president reagan to president george h w bush, their relationship and ho maybe chris, you perceive that. >> well, i can't say that they were close friends. in fact, the very fact that bus
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was named as vice presidents, i your member 198080, reagan was enamored with i think everybody ended up thinking was a terribl idea of a kind of almost hope presidency would you're old for and was involved in negotiation at the republican national convention. then it all fell apart. suddenly than on wednesday nigh vice president. bush had won the strongest race and got the most elegant second only to reagan and reagan at th last minute decided let's go with bush. it wasn't his first choice, but i think they had a close political partnership if not close personal partnership. the lord knows george h dubya bush w bush in eight years was never a hint of any dissent, of any separate agenda, he was jus utterly loyal at least to what
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the public could see to ronald reagan. reagan i think was certainly respected him and thoughtta i think president always feel tha the vice president is the one who because of the amendment that they can only serve two terms can carry on their legacy. if you get some buddy from the opposite party in this case it would've been michael dukakis, they will undo a lot of what th president has accomplished in his eight years. so reagan was very supportive o george h w bush, fort bush 41. it was a seamless transition from one to the other. it was interesting was one question as you pointed out earlier, reagan was so much larger than life in a way that bush would admit that he wasn't that he needed to establish a separate identity and one of th
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things he did at that new orleans convention in 1988 was he became the nominee was to talk about a kinder gentler presidency and approach to things. and a thousand points of life, and to establish what his agend was going to be. not different then, but something of a departure, something of a turn from reagan's agenda. >> a lot of people, chris, don' remember the assassination attempt in april of 1993 after president george h w bush left the white house he wente to kuwait to be commemorative for his role in the first gulf war n and there was an assassination attempt. kuwaiti authorities arrested eventually 17 people they felt work around this conspiracy to kill than the former president using a car bomb. there was a lot of talk about possibly who was behind this.
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the united states sent to various personnel to kuwait to investigate on their own and they eventually came to the intelligence that the united states government concluded tha iraq was behind the attempted car bombing. when we q talk about president george h w bush we often don't talk about the assassination attackas after he leaves the wh house, but it was real. >> and correct my memory, but a cre talking about this, i believe that bill clinton, his successor then had a missile strike on baghdad on a couple o installations there asou punishment for this attempt and there was always some thought thatas when bush 43, his son go involved in iraq, there was a sense this obviously wasn't a prime reason but of unfinished business like saddam hussein went after his father in that
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was perhaps in the background o motivation for bush 43. >> that's right. i should point out the cleaning up from the national defense foreign dinner here so as you hear the glasses clinking behin me, that is the cleanup crew behind me for the international defense form as they're preparing. >> you have att little ambient noise on a very busy night. chris, thank you much for joining us as well. going to bring in more folks with closese ties to the presid we have dana perino, brad blakeman former adviser to w president george w. bush and juan williams joining us now. one, i want to start with you because we talked about the bipartisan appeal of president george h w bush in the fact tha he worked across the aisle. pr was somebody willing to compromise to get things done. you're thoughts on him tonight? >> the emotion flows out of me
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because i was a white house correspondent during the reagan years and one of my jobs was to travel around the country with george w. bush, especially in that 84 cycle when president reagan was up for reelection. as you heard, they want particularly close, but george w bush was a great great emissary for the reagan administration because he had been head of the republican national committee. so he knew people all across th country and every state he coul tell me names of people in an unbelievable fashion. he was just incredible and we would sit together and i remember one thing he told me shannon was that i should write notes to people. pe five and te notes ten notes a day out of habit just to stay in touch with people. certainly with all the prominen republicans around the country. but he would write to friends
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and people and everybody would respond to him, not as the vice president at the time, but as george h w bush, someone that they knew and felt a very personal connection tube. when i had the chance to travel with him, to talk with him, to this day, i was so impressed with him and all the politician i've ever met because he was no only a war hero, but remember, he had been our first envoy sen by richard nixon to china and when i went to the olympics i guess it was in 2008 in china i remember talking to him about .hina his son, george w. bush, spent lot of time in china because hi dad has been there as the envoy. and then of course he goes on the cia that republican nationa lymmittee, vice president havin previously served as a congressman and then president
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of the united states. i don't think we see if you loo at it in historical terms anybody with that level of public service commitment experience and as i said to, th greatest measure would be his personal connection to people, especially republicans across the country. people in the party. hard working to build party structure throughout. he really had that kind of personal connection that kind o political connection that i think is extraordinary in these times. people just love to him. one of the things that happen for me tonight as i heard about president bush's death is i jus want to the wall and i don't know if you can see this, but brought with me a picture of a young version of me and a fairl young versionf of president bus. here we are on what was then ai force to traveling around the country going to all of
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different picnics and festivals in order to help ronald reagan win reelection in 1984. and then recently, five years ago i sent him a note and he wa such a great note writer, he sent me back this one this one came from me he wrote about remembering the good old days o traveling on air force two and just wrote some kind words to me . this was really very special to me which is why it hangs on the wall in my home here in washington. the other thing that strikes me at this moment he was a tremendous o baseball player, captain of the yield team. his son went on to own the rangers, but he's a huge houston astros fan to the end. we would talk baseball. he's a left-hander, in shannon, you know something about baseball isoso know you're a
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baseball fan and george w. bush was an astute, i don't say this lightly, i'm not trying to celebrate him in some way, but george h w bush could tell you about major league players on a level that i don't think any other politician i've ever met couldd do. i don't think general managers could talk about baseball and baseball players with the depth of understanding of the game that george h w bush had. so for me, it was people would l say i come back from a trip wit george h w bush and my wife would say oh, how are you doing. i said here's the latest on wha we can expect from the orioles and the astros and the yankees from the very top of american political life. this guy was so extraordinary, stretch as statesmen and such a friend. able to work across the aisle, we've heard from brad and chris t about his work with bill clinn
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, but you should know that even recently, he had barack obama going down to houston and stopping in to visit . that kind of relationship again so extraordinary in these days of utterly polarizing politics. >> a beautiful l statement from both the obama tonight, but i want to jump in here and we'll come back to the panel but because you mentioned his love of sports we want to bring in jim gray, we have him he's a fo news contributor. he interview the former president more than 20 times an you know, jim maybe even more than the rest of us of just how much he actually love sports an had such a depth of knowledge especially about the game of baseball. >> he loved it, he followed it. one of the great things he used to talk about he met babe ruth in 1948 and he used to carry around a little card from time to time and he gave me one of the signed cards that he had with him pictured with babe rut
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as you see right there on the screen. unfortunately at that time, mister ruth was ravaged with cancer, but he was able the captain of the yield baseball team to bebe able to meet him a it was a proud moment for him. he just saw that pitch when he threw out the first pitch, it always bothered president bush that he bounced up ball. he was a great baseball player in college, and so when his son george w. bush throughout the threw out the first pitch after the terrorist attacks on september 11th of 2001, he always remembered how president dubya bush would tell me his father bounced the ball and how much of bothered him so when derek jeter came in and told them don't bounce the ball, mister president ever refreshed all of those memories and then-president bush 43 went out and threw a perfect strike to try to get onto some sense of normalcy as a nation. president bush senior, he also loved golf. he was a terrific fan of the game of golf, he would show up
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and i would interview him regularly at the writers cups and the presidents cups and his father, his grandfather george herbert walker created the walker cup which along with the ryder cup one of those stables and traditions of golf. i also got to play golf with president bush and i got to see him golf in 1995 a tremendous story when he golf with president clinton and president ford, himself,si they joined bo hope and he won that day he sho and 92. he also hit two fans that they won off the first tee where he required ten stitches in one of the 14th t he hit the woman and her rear end and it was funny on the 14th, not so funny on the first tee. president ford was so excited because bob hope had made a living out of commenting how many times president ford would hit people and now president bush took that up, but he beat president clinton by a stroke
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and president ford by seven strokes that day. like to share a story with you we were in spain for the ryder cup in 1997 it was the homecoming for his stereo so he came over to watch the american team. it was pouring rain one day and we were all scattering to get off the course. i was in my golf course along with the technician the sound man a man named june kim from nbc sports. we were driving and saw three guy standing one had a glass trash bag over his head and was soaking wet there were two guys standing behind him. we got a little closer and i said that's president bush. he was standing out in the rain pouring rain all by himself wasn't asking anybodyin for hel we gave him a ride in on the golf court and i will never forget he had this trash bag over him and just the humility and thee decency he had. the next day he came back to th golf course and he on his own was seeking out june kim to han
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him a present pair of presidential cufflinks i though what an amazing man to do something like that because he got a ride in a golf cart. he was just wonderful to be around. he loved to play golf and he loved to play fast golf. he was so touched and love the fact that arnold palmer told hi he had been a great contributor to the game of golf, and that not everybody like jack nichola it could stand upon there and j play for hours upon hours upon hours and concentrate on every stroke president bushan, he lov the fact that arnold palmer tol him it was great for the game that he played in two hours or two and a half hours. >> listen, you're right, that the bushes play fast. i only played with them once, they could move it on the golf course.ne >> they did. and it was boom, boom, boom.
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they enjoyed it, but he wanted to do it fast. and he would concentrate but in those split seconds, and he could hit some good golf shots. to him it was a form of relaxation a form of a challenge , and he used to always tell me how much he could learn about other people by playing golf with them. if they were really slow they didn't get an invitation back again. i was also honored in 1999 at the country club, nbc was televising the ryder cup and president bush had come on many times with me to do interviews and i saw him, they were there to support ben crenshaw because he was from austin, texas and they were living in texas obviously. iew asked could i interview president bush and he said sure. barbara bush walked up and said why are you always interviewing the old man. get over the old man and she
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pointed over to george w and sh said that guy is going to be running for president. the governor of texas, what are you put him on. i said sure, can we do the whol family question like we did the whole family and it was kind of fun to be told or kidded or prodded by mrs. bush and so we interviewed them both together. jeb was also part of it and president george w. bush was able to speak to the team and they rallied for the greatest comeback in the history of the ryder cup he was governor at th time and crenshaw and the guys came back and won at brook lane and i asked president h w bush the next day if in fact he was the one that was able to rally them and he was way too humble he said just gave them a few words of encouragement i won't get anywhere near trying to tak any credit for this. >> this is a sports family. you talk about golf here,
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baseball, president george h w bush baseball career in college. george w. bush owns a baseball team. there was pride in sports, it meant a lot to them. did you ever get a sense when you were talking to them about these moments throwing out the mrst pitch, flipping the coin at the super bowl, how much these things meant to them? >> it meant an awful lot to him. i remember talking to him about the final four when it was in houston. he was a great friend such a mentor and a confidant with jim nance, the great sportscaster from cvs and jim wrote about hi extensively in his book, they spent countless hours and days together and i believe he had come in part to some of these final fours because he wanted t spend some time with jim nance, but he was always agreeable, an
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i remember john thompson the great basketball coach from georgetown had never met president bush even though he had coached at georgetown durin e e time that president bush wa in office and it was a hole he didn't have because he didn't have that one photograph with president bush and so i walked him over at halftime and president bush was just instead of the honor being for john thompson, it was the honor for president bush to be able to receive him and spent five or six minutes before he had to go backs on the air. sports meant an awful lot to him . i remember in 2005 and got to interview both president clinto and president bush on the field in jacksonville before they fli the coin before the game the super bowl game in jacksonville they went out and flipped it together. they had worked on the hurrican and relief efforts together and the earthquake efforts that the had gone and become a team so they teamed up and camend and f
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the coin. you could just tell that president bush really cared about sports. he called me one time after the mike tyson year biting and he wanted to know what kind of a guy mike tyson was. i said he's wonderful to be around and he made a despicable horrible mistake and incident that night, but it just bright him so much that i thought tyso was wonderful that he said i don't want to judge him. he's a great boxer, but he was interested in so many different sports and had a genuine love. i yasked them how many games he will watch in the white house h said we have a prettyn ai good satellite system here. i watch quite a bit of it. >> one of the perks of being in the white house. >> you're reflections are great. >> thank you. >> he was a wonderful man i was lucky to spend the time with them. he was a joy. asa joyous guy who was very hume
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. decency beyond belief. >> quite a combination along with all that leadership and accomplishment. i want to showow you briefly a video coming in a short time ag stop by that or who gates to the bush neighborhood there. they placed an american flag an flowers. neighbors said they wanted to come by since he was saddened b the loss, but spoke very highl of the bush family and talked about the fact that she said there were people who were good people the neighbors had the upmost respect for them and jus wanted to stop by and place something there at the gate. in the coming days that will ramp up even more. e we have gotten reaction from former secretary of state condoleezza rice tonight. she talked about the deep broad legacy of president h w bush an she said he has finished his race with honor and dignity.he >> i had a chance to see her a couple of weeks ago at an event
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in california and she relayed a story about her time working fo him in the white house if you recall, shana and she was national security advisor not the head advisor, but she was on the nst and she was responsible for all things soviet union. when the wall was going to be t coming down they all went to hi and said mister president, we have to get ready, you must go to europe, he must have this moment and he said i'm not going . but sir, you are leading this charge and he said what am i going to do there? dance on the wall? this isir their moment. let them have this moment. i'm not going to go and try to hide the spotlight out there. that it ecisions like might sound like oh he's being modest, but i think there was strategy also to the modesty.
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the writing of the notes, the other thing she talked about at that event was how george h w bush found it very important an easy to make friends with leaders around the world and he got to know them and he would send them notes, he would call them and asked them about their grandchildren, congratulate the on things he read about on the news and keep in i touch. the reason he did that is because when he needed them to rally around him or around the united states in building a coalition, it would always take the call, they would show up an help america and i think a lot of that had to do with that personal diplomacy. he passed that on. it's a good lesson for all of u to remember that he used to say don't everom let your first cal to somebody be when you ask for something. that is one of the lessons i certainly took away from him. >> the fact that he went on and on about this personal notes. i got one from him once and it' something that you save her.
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it is such an old-fashioned beautiful courtesy and it is such a special thing that takes a momentstr of your time. it will chain somebody's life potentially and sets them that you would do something so personal. life here in new york, you work more than one bush administration, but you oversa personnel for this president bush 41. what are your thoughts tonight? >> my heart is just broken buried and crushed, but we knew this day was coming. he always sort of rallied and got past other difficult times with his health in the past two years. but what a remarkable life for all of us who have the great privilege to work in the white house with him and with president reagan. these were two incredible examples for young people like myself, my husband you i've met who had been his personal aide as vice presidents, they drove
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million miles together, tim typed a lot of those notes on the plane for him. my own children have notes from him when they were born. he just touched us all. not only young professionals learning from these incredible leaders of such dignitary in service, but also just how he s personally touched each of our lives. >> i think you talk about it, and need, the service to the country. think about that this was the last living former president wh was a world war ii vet. someone who served the country for all of his life. volunteered after pearl harbor. decided not to go to college to get into the military after the attack on pearl harbor. talk about, i guess in the wake of his life, what would you
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think his legacy would be in perhaps what should people take from it? >> such a great point you raise. i think when you think about george h w bush, in think that photograph of him as that young naval aviator and the rescue of course when his plane went down and how young he was to take on that. the level of responsibility and devotion to the country that it was just so natural for him without a doubt, growing up of course in the family of service but also a family of great humility. you know how he often said to how hisit mother would tell him don't brag about what you do, just do it. i think that is such a wonderfu as i said to shannon a wonderfu example to those of us who
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worked in washington, worked in the white house, worked in public service that i hope is something that we all just treasure and no is remarkable i people who take up the leadership mantle of our country . 1984, he is shot down and rescued in the pacific ocean. he rejoins his squadron he receives several honors from th military and from the country. often times, as we talk about george h w bush, we focus on hi time as president, but it was much moret than that.. >> i was with him in saipan, we had one of our largest sea battles there. it was the first time he'd been back in that area since he was shot down and it was one of the few times i saw him shed a tear
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as he stood there at the flagpole. and surrounded by survivors, sadly, so many of them are gone. the president had a deep sense of service in part of that service was a legacy of his er personal service in the militar and having been shot down. duty, honor, service, country, . mily, that's what george h w bush will be most remembered fo and he will be a role model and has been for so many. >> we are just getting in a statement tonight from former president clinton as well. we talked a great deal about ho an retirement president bush, 4 reached out and madesi sure tha he connected with people across the political aisle where they
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could t help in disasters and relief efforts and that kind of thing. he talks about being a young governor and invited into the bushes home and was struck by this kindness he showed to chelsea and his innate in genuine decency. he went on to say, few american have been or will ever be able to match his service of record to the united states and the jo he took every day from it from his military service in world war ii to his work in congress, the united nations, china, the central intelligence agency, th vice presidency and the presidency were he work toward unity. that statement about the joy he took every day he did a lot of hard work a lot of tough jobs, but he did always seem to be such a joyful person in the midst of it. >> if we have lost dana i would rather take the truth is i'm
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loving your coverage so much i have the tv turned up too loud. these tributes are just wonderful and for some. the statement we have frequent in talking about the joy president bush took in his service every day. these are difficult jobs he was forced into difficult situations . he really did one of the things he had said is after he lost in that 92 race 43 as tim, dad, where did youu get the strength to be so gracious after that loss the family so heartbroken. he said i had no choice. i think that what he learned as a young boy growing up with a mother who apparently was one o the angels that walked the earth
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, she basically said, every day you wake up and it's a choice, your choice in attitude and what you say, how you conduct yourself and one of the things he showed us in a post- presidency is really how to be former president. he was a gracious winner and a gracious loser. so he lived quite a long life after he finished the presidency . jimmy carter is also, but he really such a good example for bill clinton for barack obama, and for his own son george w. bush because there is a lot of life and after you've had this job as the leader of the free world, the most powerful person on the planet, what are you going to do in those years? he chose to do lots of differen things. he continued to do speaking, bu i think one of his great lastin legacies is that texas a&m, where the bush library library is, and where to this day as
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part of that curriculum, there at the library. he also stayed active as 43 put together a presidential leadership scholar series and that is with the libraries of 41 , 43, bill clinton, and lyndon johnson. they all work together to help create this new generation of leaders and to cultivate that. i do think though just to get back to original question the idea of a choice of how you're going to live your life. one of the things bill clinton also said that in many ways, 41 became like a second father to him. i think that might have been an need an needed there. maybe she could talk more about that. that is very important because when barbara bush died, we about her as america's grandmother. 41 had so many roles in his life , it was a privilege of force to know him. everyone feel special, but what do grandparents do? they teach you t about how to o conduct yourself, life is hard,
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but you make choices based on the values that have been instilled in you. if it is gratitude, dignity, humility, patriotism, and the number one thing is unconditional love. for your family. that is something i really learned from them and have trie to keep in mind as the days get hard, you get busy, maybe get irritated, a time of instability , but it's a choice. he taught us how to make it well . >> i just want to touch quickly on the bipartisan nature of all of this andck juan williams, george h w bush could reach across the aisle. he just could. it wasn't just bill clinton in the post- presidency, he did it during his presidency. there were people who look at that and say why is he doing that with bill clinton or when george w. bush reaches over and hands him into michelle obama a the funeral. don't they know, and were in
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this age where it's such a partisan time that this moment seems like it cuts through all of that. >> it really does. it's in stark contrast to this moment, but i want to emphasize something you said right there. while he was president, you hav to understand this is someone havinger his experience on capi hill who is regularly going up to capitol hill and talking to democrats today, the way things are so separate, we don't even have those conversations betwee republicans and democrats, sometimes not even among people in the same party. imagine that the president of the united states would talk with members of congress, the house specifically, he was a real admirer of the house i think in keeping with the idea that the founding fathers sold the house of the people and he was able to develop relationships.
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specific, i would say ronald reagan alsols have the capacity would have the massachusetts democrat over to the white hous and do deals, make deals, compromise. george h w bush was a master of that kind of political relationship. you've heard this now said by many people. t the way he developed relationships and the relationships then would lead t having deals and compromises that would result in political solutions for america. that was his highest goal. political solutions as opposed to political confrontationto. for me, it was a lesson as i say . what a statesman, because he ha such an accumulation of tremendous public service going back to the war, but even afte the war in the congress leading the republican party, leading the central intelligence agency. i think also people looking at
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ronald reagan of course, all eyes we go to reagan in terms o the charisma, the presence, and the light, but you have to understand for him it was public service to be ronald reagan's vice president that he saw in that moment that he was in fact winding up with someone who was going to be a tomb term president. and the great serpent in trying to be his political agenda. >> quickly to give us a final word. >> i think a couple of things with dana said about the relationship between george h w bush and bill clinton. for those of us that worked in the white house during that ver painful election of 1992 and we all felt that this person of george h dubya bush was diminished and eyes through som of the rhetoric of that campaig and when they became such friends later, i asked george h w bush this question on the
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plane to the funeral of john paul theoh second and bill clin was there i said this relationship between the two of you, what is it and he said youh know i think i'm the father he never had. and it really says everything about who he is as an individua that service over anything that is personal. the other point that juan williams made, as a staffer in the white house i would never would see the list of democrati congressmen coming over to the white house all the time to be guests on the tennis court or t be playing poor shoes were plming over for a movie or just coming over for a cocktail, tha was a regular way that george h w bush worked as a president across the aisle. >> and it was very effective. thank you very much, all for joining us. brett, we just got something in. too bright as well wonderful sports memories and his love of that as well. something has just come in and were trying to get it on the screen. brett, ink think you mentioned
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earlier the cartoon became in the wake of the passingf first dy barbara bush and this joyous time of her walking through the ugheavenly gates an her own daughter robin who died at the age of four looking like a little angel and then running to each othernd. tonight that same cartoon put out another image and it is of plane, like the one that george h w bush flew back in world war ii i think it's on a screen out you can see him coming into the clouds and all three of them holding hands that says we waited for you. absolutely so touching and heartbreaking. >> and that really is how we should probably end this hour i that memory of this family because when mrs. bush died in april of 2018, they had been married 73 years. i think that that's more than anything else is how george h w bush wants to be remembered as loyal husband, gampy,
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great-grandfather, a father, an i think he's going to be remembered well in the history of this country. >> i think you're right. we live with a beautiful cartoo tonight and fox's continuing coverage. >> if you're joini shannon: breaking news of the death of george hw bush. president bush 41 has died. he was 94, the oldest president in us history. he spent the summer in kennebunkport, maine, condolences and fond memories pouring in from presidents, former advisers and well-wishers from around the world, remembered as a statesman, an icon of the greatest generation is one of a kind, bret baer looks at the life of this american hero.

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